I’m a huge Mudhoney geek. They’ve been a constant soundtrack to my life for a number of years now, and seeing them live two nights in a row at Chicago’s Empty Bottle a few years ago was the best concert experience I’ve ever had. Along with Nirvana, they were, in my opinion, the coolest band to come out of the whole Seattle scene back in the day. Their new album, Under a Billion Stars, is easily one of the best, most fully realized albums of their career.

In terms of post-Stooges garage/punk rock, nobody holds a candle to Mudhoney. Their first three albums (Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles, self-titled, and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge) school any of this neo-garage stuff that’s big right now. They were an extremely prolific band for a while in the mid-‘90s, but much of their catalog after those initial three releases is a half-and-half mix of killer tunes and stuff that’s just sorta decent enough. After dropping off the radar for a few years, they came back in 2002 with Since We’ve Become Translucent. Again, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t quite all it should have been to really say to the world, “Hey! We’re back!” This new album, however, does just that.

Under a Billion Stars is a fist pumping, raucous celebration of disillusionment. Lyrically, it’s a bitter, biting slab of social commentary that explores the disappointments many people face with life in America in this day and age. Guitarist/vocalist Mark Arm’s trademark howl has definitely lost a bit of its paint-peeling grit, but the strength of the lyrics and the conviction with which he sings them help sell his slightly shaky singing voice. Songs like “Empty Shells,” “Endless Yesterday,” and “Where is the Future?” fully capture that longing, nostalgic feeling of arriving at adulthood and finding the reality of your surroundings not all you’d thought it would be.

Arm’s notorious dark wit is still fully intact as well. Witness “Hard-On For War,” a reinterpretation of Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” riff that talks about how easy it is for average dudes to get laid during wartime, when all the macho guys have gone off to fight. Fittingly, given the socio-political vibe of the lyrics, much of the music references the classic rock of the Vietnam era: Blue Cheer, Alice Cooper, MC5, and Nugent in particular. The band have also figured out how to properly integrate horn arrangements into their songs, which was one of the problems they had on their last album.

Yes sir, Mudhoney are back, and just in time if you ask me. As bleak as the album’s subject matter is, it still carries a real wild-eyed, “We’re doomed, but I don’t give a fuck” vibe that’s the cornerstone of any good punk rock album. Like, even if the system’s fucked, pop culture is in the toilet, and the common man is working harder than ever for less and less, at least we still have some awesome rock songs to roll our blues away. And maybe that’s enough, right?
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Ari Joffe

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 Past Constructive Criticism

Patrick posted the following Constructive Criticism: Thank you for writing a Mudhoney review that DOES NOT mention the word grunge. I love the record too, and wish music fans would start viewing Mudhoney as the vital and talented PUNK ROCK band they are, rather than bringing up a bunch of tired grunge cliches when discussing their work. Best review I've read on this record so far!